The Prince and the Beetle
by Marine Panda
Summary: The story of how Prince Aikka met G'Dar. Ch.5 is up!
1. Chapter 1: Summer Day

_A story about the Prince of Nourasia we all know and love, Aikka and his beatle, G'Dar. This will be short, not much than a few chapters or more. This starts out along time ago..._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Oban. OSR is (c) of Savin Yeatman-Eiffel**

The Prince and the Beatle

Ch.1 "Summer Day"

Normally days like this should be regarded as wonderful by children of Aikka's age. It was one of those great Nourasian summers in the City of Dol, when the spring-fed lakes were filled with swimmers and the children of the city were playing games of fuu-kan and dash. The adults were likewise trying to keep out of the heat in their own way, and the straw hats of the fishermen in the great river, Amuluka that formed a cresent around the castle and city bobbed as they steered their canoes in the reddish brown water, looking for their newest catch. Even in the courtyard where the knights and their ladies would be training, there seemed to be more of an interest in sport and play. Almost everyone was wearing loose clothing and no socks or bandages or even the loose bell-sleeves that were a trademark of their people.

Aikka did not have that freedom. As the prince, he was forced to stay indoor and study his lessons, so one day he would be a great king, or so his father said.

_Father is so mean_, he said to himself as he began to write down the notes of his tutor, who was an elderly Nourasian sage who was almost put asleep by the heat. _He is so unfair. He doesn't want me to be anything but alone._

He stopped his writing as soon as he saw the sage's head tilt over and a brief snore came out of his mouth. Aikka would've laughed but he stifled it. There was an open window of opputinity for him. And as the prince of Nourasia, he would not miss it for the world.

**A/N:**_ Short I know, but there's more coming soon! Please read and review!_

_Next chapter: Aikka ventures out into an adventure..._


	2. Chapter 2: The Prince

_A/N: Sorry about the long wait, I had Spring Break... and no internet connection for the past week. But I finally goten this chapter done over the week. Not much but it will lead into the action very soon._

Ch. 2 "The Prince"

Aikka had slipped past the sage, the halls and into his room, where he with his inborn agility leapt into the tall tendril tree outside of his window and clung onto the vines. He slipped down the vines onto the ground below and checked around to see if he was free to go. Seeing no guards (and why would there be? It was so hot no one would want to wander around in heavy armor and clothes), the prince wandered away from the castle grounds, finding an opening in the walls that surrounded it and made his escape.

Prince Aikka had been spending this day in his study, learning history by a sage (more of an old teacher than a true sage) who could hardly keep himself awake in the heat of the day. Likewise, he had been forced to, so that he may become a "good king" one day like his father and lead his people. After all, he was the only son of the king and queen of Nourasia and he was the only heir apparent, which made Aikka all the unhappy. Once, once he had friends, at least he thought he did, before he had turned five summers. Those were good days, when he could play outside and not worry about being a prince. No one cared either. Then when he became five summers old, they came, the Royal Retainers with the crown that would be placed on his head which he could never take off. It was made of a special jewel which grew as he did and could never be taken off due to a spell which attached itself to his head unless he himself took it off. And even then, there was a mark on his forehead, a kind of tattoo of sorts of the same swirling markings on his crown done in the same blue of his eyes. After that, his "friends" decided that he was not worthy of them and left him. Even his parents who had been so happy with him now regarded him as an "adult", even though he was still far away from being an adult in even Nourasian terms. It was the end of a lot of things and the beginning of a lot of things, at least in Aikka's mind.

One thing was certain. Aikka did not want to be a prince any longer.

Nine summers old and very tired of listening to the same old rhetoric by his teacher, Aikka had slipped out of the castle and the walls of Dol to the rainforests beyond the city. There was freedom there.

As he stepped into the rainforest, Aikka was awed by what he saw. Sure he had seen the rainforest before, being on the back of the shika that his Fencing Master Canaan and his Archery Mistress Thuy had ridden so they could show him how to hunt and how to track. But this was so different. Unlike ridding on a shika and being taller than the surrounding area, he was now ground level, and could see the little plants, the ants crawling on the ground and the giant roots, which were almost as tall as a full grown kabuto tower over him. It was cooler there with the water condensing up in mists as he walked through the system of buttress roots and small plants. Above him, the jade parrots cried out as they flew through the canopy, while a pantha roared somewhere else in a far part of the rainforest. It wasn't close to him, but Aikka did not want to take that too loosely and walked faster trying to cover some more distance. He heard it another time, this being farther away from the first which made him calmer. Aikka stopped to rest under the cover of a thick clump of shade ferns. As he slipped down to land on his rear, Aikka began to think about what must be going on at the castle.

_They must already found out_, he thought, _but they're probably wondering where I went. Of course they're going to search the castle first. _

He didn't want to go back to the castle, at least not yet. Smiling mischievously, Aikka ran from his hiding spot and towards the sound of water rushing.

The water of the Amuluka was brown with silt washed from the banks and the shores. It rushed in torrents, roaring and rumbling when Aikka came upon the river at last. Unlike the calm river at the crescent that went around the city of Dol, this was a rough and dangerous area of the Amuluka.

Named for the rich red-brown color of its waters, the Amuluka carried nutrients and water to the capital of the Kingdom of Nourasia. For all of its benefits, the Amuluka was also considered a dangerous river to deal with. It was rough and swift in parts, and in other parts it was slow and sluggish in the marshes, and in other parts it was very much deceiving in the way it meander and twisted through the rain forest.

Aikka came upon a high bank, high above the rushing angry waters of the Amuluka. He gave a quiet prayer for the goddess of the river and then walked along the bank, careful not to loose his balance. If he fell into the water, he would be carried away quickly and drown, despite his excellent swimming skills. It came from swimming in the shallows of the Amuluka and the marshes that surrounded it. But he knew that he couldn't survive a plunge into the raging river.

There was no one around, thank goodness and Aikka kept walking down the bank. Down this area would be ruins of an old city, a part of an ancient city older, far, far older than Dol itself. He knew about it from his fencing teacher, Canaan who had talked about it at times. According to Canaan, it was located close to the greater cataracts of Amuluka, close to the castle grounds.

_A nice place to explore today_, he thought to himself happily. _Much better than that old teacher_.

He smiled to himself as he raced down the bank, holding out his arms for balance. A bigger smile appeared on his face when he saw a huge stone, shape like a beetle somewhat. Aikka walked right up to the stone and touched it. It was cool and had moss growing on it along the areas where the wing cases would be. For a moment, he was reminded of the old legends of the great Nourasian heroes of old who rode the sky upon the giant kabuto, who had fought greater evils and save the people of Nourasia several times. The stone beetle, half buried in the soil of jungle was perhaps a remnant of those times, when the kabuto had been more numerous before the Crogs had taken over and forced his parents to work for them or they would enslave their people…

Aikka leaned on the stone beetle.

_But those are stories, mere stories_, he thought to himself, _but I wish they were true!_

Getting away from the beetle, Aikka walked away and found himself in a huge courtyard with vines growing thick and abundant around the walls. This would be nice to explore. The young prince walked into the middle, looking up at the canopy above him. He didn't even notice the noise of wings moving at a fast rate just a few yards away from him. And if he had, well maybe that would not matter for the moment.

Notes on words

Trendril Tree: A tropical vine tree native to Nourasia. It is roughly the same height as an ordamental ficus tree and has long thick branches. It is very unique in the fact that it's trunk is green as are it's vines and has no real leaves to speak of. In some parts of Nourasia, where fresh water is scare, it's vines are cut so people can get at the vast amounts of water stored there.

Amuluka: The great river that flows through the largest land mass of Nourasia. It's name means the "Mother River" and is depended on for the fact that it overflows it's banks and brings rich nutrients to the floodplains so that Nourasians can farm. The annual flooding of the Amuluka is marked by the rising of the star Hyru in the night sky.

Kabuto: The name of G'Dar's species, also known as beetles.

Shika: Antelope/horse hybrid animals which are used for transport on Nourasia, mostly around the Dol area where they originate. They are approximately around 15 to 16.5 hh and have various coat patterns, ranging from striped to solids like red. Most have small horns.

_A/N: Please read and review. I am so glad that many people read this already and have thought it was a good start. Hope you all enjoy. Next chapter: Aikka meets a _


	3. Chapter 3: The Discovery

_A/N: Here's a new chapter of my fanfic. Let's say it will continue as fallows. Now I want to thank all those who have reviewed my fanfic, though I only got about three reviews for the second chapter. However, I've gotten more reviews for this than I have for Byrus Liberation (please check it out please!). I thank:_

_Crazyvegimab:_ Thanks, and did you enjoy that part on the crown did you? Thanks! And there will be more mentions of Nourasian culture coming up!

_Drama Queen of the Moon: _Thank you!

_Isabella of the Night_: Thanks and I'll hurry up, there was just an error last time.

Ch. 3 "The Discovery"

Inside the courtyard was a broken fountain, filled with the red reeds of the marshes and green-blue algae growth of many old fountains he had seen in the city, although there were few fountains that were not used anymore. Living in a city of tents (1) rather than stone was something Aikka was used to. Stone buildings, however where not something he was unfamiliar with, he had seen such things in the scrolls and "books" of his sages and the artefacts that the Crogs had brought over. From what he also knew, Crogs lived in houses made out of metal too. It was kind of baffling that the Crogs would build their houses from a material that was not only hard to get out of the earth but to make into something usable, since on Nourasia, metal was pretty much a rare commodity (2). Very few had access to metal and if they did, it was usually one piece or object of choice, like a sword or an heirloom. Even though it looked like he was wearing a decent amount of metal, Aikka was actually wearing a semi-precious jewel called ambrez, which was in color like the bronze(3) that was used in moderation for weapons.

When he came upon the old fountain, Aikka peered inside and saw his reflection, mostly distorted by the algae and the little swimming insects (of which there were many on Nourasia) on the surface and below it. He smiled but then saw something – or a glance of something – that flew by at the corner of his eye. It wasn't really clear, the algae made the water a tad murky. But he looked away from the fountain just as he heard a crash in the jungle a few yards away from him. Not anything like a branch falling because it was too heavy or a gliding lemuer making a landing on some weak branches, but something far, FAR bigger than either could ever be. He ran towards the noise, curious to know what it was and what caused it.

Aikka slipped through the giant ferns and cycads that littered the floor near the old ruins. He could see something large lying a couple of yards away from him, covered in broken branches and ferns. Something worried him about the scene, even though he was barely close enough to see it in full. Now that he was thinking of it, maybe he should've taken his little bow and arrows, even if they were just for practice until he got older, with him, just in case. But before he could get any closer, a large thumping noise, like large feet walking made him stop on his feet. For a moment, he was still like a frighten rabbit, his ears moving up and down, getting the information about the sound. When he realized what it was, Aikka fell down into a crouching position, like how his tracking master had shown him, so he would not be seen.

Good thing Nourasians, when they had started to live within the rain forest, had learned much from the tree peoples, or they would not be living at all today.

What appeared in the periprael view of Aikka was something large, bulky and dark, dressed in armor and some kind of jumpsuit. Two ears twitched on top of a domelike head which beheld two glowing eyes. Aikka nearly squeaked in terror but stifled it and crouched even lower into the ferns.

A Crog had just entered the rainforest, not just any rain forest, but the one near Dol (4). What was he doing here?

Aikka watched silently as the Crog looked at the huge mass that had fallen into the trees and then bent down. A noise was heard, which sounded like something was being torn off of something fleshy. Another Crog came into view and started to hack into something. As they worked on whatever they were doing, they begun to talk to each other.

"The boss'll be grateful for this," said the first Crog, in red. "Took me over an hour just to track it down."

"Oh he'll happy," said the second Crog who had some grey on him. "As a token, maybe we should give him the wings just in case he doesn't like the cases."

"The wing cases are going to be enough as far as _I'm_ concerned," said the first Crog, as he wiped his forehead, "it's tough just getting these suckers off of this thing in the first place."

When a snap was heard, the Crogs stopped working and there was an odd sense of gladness around them.

"This'll get some money on the table," said the first Crog.

"Better hurry," said the second, "if we get caught out there, we're gonna get in big trouble by the Nourasians."

"Nourasians?" the first Crog let out a laugh, "what are they going to do? They're practically cowards. None of them have the guts to fight against the like of the Crogs in the first place!"

Aikka felt anger rise through him.

The Nourasians were not cowardly.

_We are not cowards_, he thought to himself, _when I am old enough to do so, I will show all of you that the Nourasian people are as capable of taking on great challenges and are the bravest people in the galaxy._

Aikka's hands became fists, though he knew he would never be able to win a fight against one Crog, never the less two. With his eyes nearly in tears from the hurt he felt from those words the Crogs said, he could only sit there and watch whatever they were doing. And then the _what_ they were doing became so very clear to him.

A huge sun gold shell came into his view, being carried by one of the Crogs.

"Be careful with that!" snarled one of the Crogs, "quickly, get it strapped onto the carriers, before anyone finds out!"

"What about the beast?" asked the one Crog.

The Crog in bits of grey, who was seemingly the leader of the two looked at the "beast" they were talking about and then to the first Crog.

"Leave it," he said, "some scavengers will eat it and the forest will shallow it in time. We have a worst beast to deal with once we get these back to base."

Aikka covered his face when the smell of the rotting body filled his nose and made his eyes water. The carrier they had been talking about could be heard making a near silent roaring noise and lifting into the air. Aikka bent his body lower, hoping that the Crogs didn't see him in the ferns when the thing past by. With his most silent of words, Aikka prayed to the gods and spirits of the forest to hide him from any eyes that would come upon him. He would not move for another ten minutes.

Terms

By numbers

1. My own theory is that the city of Dol is made up of tents inside three hallowed out tree trunks (reminants of tree rings) of an ancient tree. The outermost layers are completely lined with walkways and tents, sheltering the citizens of Dol. The main palace, as if one were to call it is actually situated inside of the central hallowed trunk and buildt with wood and cloth as well as the wing cases of beetles that died of natural causes. Out of all the other buildings in Dol, this along with the temple is buildt more solidly and has certain pieces of architecture that other Nourasian houses do not, such as pillars made out of crystals and metal hangings. The entire city is them circled by three circular moats inside of the three hallowed out trunks and the cresent of the Amuluka river. There are bridges made out of wood magically "carved" arching and connecting each circle to each other. There is no caste system detaining who lives where (unlike in Crog society) but farmers have always prefered the area around the floodplain of the Amuluka, fishers have always taken the areas around the outermost circle and for some reason yet unknown, healers are always attrached to the middle section of the circles.

2. Metal is not very easy to come by easily, especially on Nourasia. In a land where there isn't much in the way of mining techniques (in fact, most Nourasians would be abhored by the techniques that humans use to mine, such as strip mining or clearing entire forests, in search of metal). A people who do not use metal much or have much use for it, the Nourasians do not use metal all that much save in the use of metal hangings (seen as tokens of wealth and power rather than simplistic decor) or weapons and tools. Most Nourasians use stone, jewels (such as in Aikka's crown) or crystals (like Aikka's arrowheads) instead of metal. Farriers, and smiths of all types are highly valued as such as well, and there is a legend of a mythical smith who created a sword so powerful it could cut through Ambrez "ambrez being a term for "diamond" since you can't truely cut ambrez by hand, magic is needed).

3. There is some major thought at the Nourasian thread in the official forums that Nourasia is in a "Bronze Age" so bronze is a more abundant metal though iron is also used, though not as much as bronze.

4. Dol is the Holy City of Nourasia. No outsiders (save the children of Nourasia) may enter it without special permission. It is said to be home to the ancient magic and lays in the center of the Kingdom of Nourasia. It is half surrounded by the mother river, Amuluka and sits inside of three circular tree trunks.See above.

Red Reeds: an indigionous plant to the marshes and swamps of Nourasia's equator. Sometimes it is cut for use in creating scabbards or wind instruments and chimes.

Ambrez: a semi-prescious jewel used primarily for the creation of armbands, decorative chimes and ordamentation, and most importantly the tiara-like crowns of the Nourasian royalty. It "grows" over time, in spirals and curves that the Nourasians love.

Gliding lemur: a marsupial mammal of the Nourasian rainforests. It is approximately the size of a Greater Glider and looks a little like a tuffed earred lemur. They are mainly vegan and shy around people, though they have been known to watch passing Nourasians with avid curiousity, causing the term "watching lemur" to be attached to those who seem shy and watch from adistance. They have flaps of skin on either side of their body,like a sugar glider and use them to fly from tree to tree.

Tree People: Name given by the city-dwelling Nourasians to a near-mythical people of the rainforest. Very little is known of them.

_A/N : Thanks for reading, please review. Next time, Aikka finds out more about what has been left behind._


	4. Chapter 4: G'Dar

**A/N: **_Sorry for the long wait... I have Finals all next week that are due, so any and all updates will be infequent, even more so for the next three months due to the fact that my internet connection will be down for those months. I really hope you all enjoy this next chapter, because G'Dar is in it! The story may change a little in the next couple of chapters and I think this will actually go on longer than I expected. And I should get the other chapters up soon, once I get them written up but Finals do not wait for anyone! Please read and review!_

Ch. 4 "G'Dar"

_Are the monsters gone mommy?_

Again nothing.

Little G'Dar was frightened by the way his mommy was acting right now. First she had told him to hide under her when they had left the den, away from the smell of the monsters and his siblings who were no longer amongst the living. The monsters had killed them.

_But why?_ he had asked his mommy when they were about to leave the den that he had lived in since forever._ Why did my brothers and sisters have to die?_

_I do not know,_ his mommy had replied, _but what matters now is that you are alive. Keep alive, you are my G'Dar. You must learn to live._

G'Dar was frightened by the words his mother had told him. She had taken him up when the monsters had entered the den with their weapons. He could not see them clearly but he could hear the sound of the weapons sounding off every so often, leaving behind sharp smells of burning and ozone when he heard them go off or when he felt their heat near his mother. For a while, a long while they were flying as fast as his mother could take him away from the monsters and the den. But when he asked if they were away and they could land again, there was sharp shriek from his mother when something exploded in the air next to them. He felt her falling, falling…

When G'Dar woke up again, all he could see was darkness. He would've scuttled out but he heard harsh voices outside, around his mother. In the dimness that was his vision he could see some dark shapes moving around the outside, around his mother. There was a rocking motion above him as he heard something being pulled off of his mother with a sickening sound of flesh being torn. G'Dar nearly cried out in fear but rolled himself up in a ball, trying to keep close to his mother's body. However, he started to notice something odd about her body, it was no longer warm or loving to him, instead it was cold and was starting to smell.

The little caterpillar-like larva nearly squeaked in horror when he realized what had happened but continued to roll his body up in tight ball, closer to his deceased mother. For all the while in the world, G'Dar did not want to be left alone. He did not care if he was that was left of his den family; he just didn't want to be alone.

It seemed like hours had past since the monsters had been around mother's body. G'Dar slowly unrolled himself from his ball and nuzzled one of his mother's legs. They were cold and stiff, which scarred him a little. He didn't want to believe his mother had gone from this world; he had lost so much in such a short amount of time.

His home was gone.

His siblings were all dead, lying in the home had had once occupied.

And now his mother was dead, which was the last thing he had left in this world.

If he could've, G'Dar would've been crying actual tears now, but instead he started to make a thin mewling noise that was common to his species as a particular way to express grief or loss. He tried to nuzzle against his mother but found her too cold and stiff. She had gone the way of all other Kabuto when they had died. At that moment he realized he could not stay under the husk of his mother any longer and moved out, wiggling away from under the stiff body until he was out in the open. If he had not been in grief he would've just hid there until the coast was clear. But he didn't and he didn't notice the creature standing next to his mother's body. At first he did notice a shadow but paid no further heed to it as though it was no more than a fallen leaf. But when the shadow moved he startled and made a high pitched squeal that was natural to his kind. G'Dar tried to move away but he could do nothing but huddle against the shell of his mother as the shadow bent down and extended a hand towards him.

Aikka wandered around the husk of the magnificent Kabuto. True it was now dead but its frontal shell still gleamed white in the sunlight. Once, it had had beautiful bronze wing cases, but now thanks to the efforts of two Crogs, they were gone, torn out in ugly gashes in her sides. Her jewel-like wings however, were still there, shining like glass in the sunlight flittering down from the canopy. It was a sad sight, to see such a wonderful creature dead and gone.

_How terrible_, Aikka thought to himself. _And they are so rare nowadays. Even the tamed ones, there's not many of them left_.

It was true, fewer people saw them in these days than in the old days when they blanketed the sky and flew through the clouds (1). This poaching, heartless killing of these creatures were probably and mostly the cause of their demise. It made Aikka sad to see a creature regarded as sacred to his people being slaughtered in this fashion. Tears started down his face as he gave a little blessing to the dead beetle, hoping somehow that its soul would pass through the Posts to be guided safely into the Spiritland. He was so absorbed in the thoughts of why this beetle had died that he did not notice the little caterpillar like larva wiggle out from under the dead husk of its mother and into the open.

Likewise, the larva did not notice him either.

Aikka brushed away his tears with one of his bell sleeves and turned around to see a strange white and blue creature like a caterpillar crawl out from under the beetle's shell. At first he thought he was merely seeing things, but when he took a closer look he did, he did see a Kabuto larva!

It was about the size of a Earthen house cat and about as furry since it had white "fur" covering it and spikes of blue fur sprouting out from its back. The caterpillar-like creature had huge blue eyes with silted pupils which scanned the area without much interest as though it was grieved. Although they had been guarded jealously by their mothers, Kabuto larva did look like this, wild or tamed. It took patience and a good sense of perception just to get a good look at newling larva(2).

And it was just standing there as though Aikka did not exist in front of him.

It was mere luck, or mere – mere something else that Aikka could not name that had given him that opportunity at the moment. He reached out for the little creature.

At that same moment, the creature gave out a high pitched squeal. It hurt Aikka's ear, so much so he had to flatten his elven ears to his skull from the noise. The creature continued to squeal in fear and flatten itself against the husk of the dead Kabuto as it did.

"Stop that!" cried Aikka, hoping it would understand. "I'm not going to hurt you!"

He then remember something that the young girl Chiya had told him.

_Maybe if I could talk to him in the mind-speaking_, he thought, _maybe he would understand._

With the little guy continuing to squeal and scream, Aikka closed his eyes and started to focus. If he was much older he would be able to do it without much trouble, but he was learning so he had to focus. Focusing was a prime part of a magic-user's training to use the innate powers within(3). Aikka had been blessed with magic from a young age and had been put through training by the great mage Samus so...

With his inner eye open, Aikka searched for the Kabuto larva's mind. Within this state, Aikka started to hear some kind of voice in his mind, but one he knew was _not_ his own.

"_MOMMIE, MOMMIE, WAKE UP! WAKE UP!!!"_

Aikka opened his eyes in surprise only to hear the creatures pitiful squealing again, this time, the squealing seemed more weakened in comparison to the crying voice had heard.

_Maybe he's hungry or he's getting weaker_, thought Aikka as he came closer to the little Kabuto larva. _But his thoughts sounded so much different from the thoughts of other creatures._

It was true. Aikka had heard the other thoughts of creatures. But this was far different than the ones of the placid creatures he listened to when he was wandering around the stables and sometimes the marketplace. These creatures had no real reason to fear the Nourasians, since the Nourasians did not raise animals for food, rather as companions and producers of other substances like milk and clothing material. When it came to meat or leather, Nourasians hunted for it or fished for it(4). This kabuto, this young kabuto was evidently afraid, confused and saddened. The loss of its mother was heart-rending for Aikka; he was no stranger to loss of a family member. His own grandfather and his beloved grandmother had died when he was young, and he missed them deeply.

Slowly he closed his eyes and concentrated.

"_Don't cry,"_ he said to the larva, _"I'm not going to harm you. I'm not like those hunters. I'm a friend."_

The larva eased its crying and pressed against its mother some more. Aikka opened his eyes and frowned at the sight.

"_Mommie wake up,"_ wailed the larva in Aikka's mind.

"_I don't think she will wake up again,"_ Aikka told the larva. _"I'm sorry."_

The larva started to close its large eyes and moved away from the dead kabuto. It curled up.

"_I'm scared,"_ it said, though something told Aikka it was male.

Aikka leaned in closer to the little creature but as soon as he did, he heard a sound, no, a voice.

"PRINCE AIKKA! Where are you Prince Aikka!" said a voice that could only be Thuy, the female archery teacher. And if he could see her, she would be wearing her usually affair of mesh mail and her spilt tunic.

"Prince Aikka!" said another voice, this being of his Fencing Master Canaan. His long white hair could be somewhat seen.

"_Who are they?"_ said the Kabuto larva.

Aikka turned to the creature and realized he had to hide it or something.

"My teachers," he said, "I have to hide you!"

"_Wait!"_ he said, _"why do I have to hide? And I don't know who you are either."_

Aikka looked a tad stumped for words.

"Me," he said, "my name is, Aikka. I'm a Prince." He looked over his shoulder. He couldn't see them all that well, but Canaan and Thuy were coming around this area.

"What do you call yourself?" asked Aikka to the Kabuto larva.

For a moment, the larva tried going over the name of Aikka, and then paused in its thinking, looking up at Aikka.

"_I am G'Dar,"_ he said, as he crawled into Aikka's arms, only to be placed in the folds of the Prince's tunic.

**Terms**

Posts: The gates to the Spiritland or Afterlife in Nourasian beliefs.

Spirit Land: Where all souls go, wheather they are of Nourasian, animal, or plants, they go and live in a world much like our own, save for the fact that it is spring and summer almost all the time.

**Other**

1. The Kabuto is an endangered species due to the impact of poarching them for their shells, especially Royal Blue and Bronze types, whose shells are the most prized for decoration. Nourasians have tried to stopthe slaughter of their sacred animals, but all mostly falls to deaf ears.

2. Unusal for most insects, the Kabuto mother will be very protective of her offspring, even going so far as hiding them from their riders in the cases of tamed individuals. Seeing a tamed larva is extremely rare.

3. All magic-users on Nourasia are required to look within for their power, or so my theory on how they learn theirmagic goes.

4. Nourasians are mostly agricultural, though they do hunt for food and skins sometimes. To raise an animal for nothing more than food is considered barbaric to Nourasians. The only tamed animals that the Nourasians have are ones for riding, ones for clothing, ones for milk, and ones for companionship.

**A/N:** _I probably won't be updating in a long time so please don't get angry,okay? Next chapter, Aikka and his parents, and the discovery of the larva..._


	5. Chapter 5: Grounded

New chapter up, which is short, sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own Oban. OSR is (c) Savin Yeatman-Eiffel and SAV!The World Productions.

Ch. 5 "Grounded"

"Prince Aikka, my son," said the imposing (at least to a Nourasian child of about nine summers) figure of King Lao, "you have disobeyed not only your parents and your teacher but the whole of Nourasia, running off into the rainforest like that. Do you know what would become of your people if you got lost or were killed?"

"But father…" Aikka tried to speak up, but his father was too busy administrating his punishment. He looked to his mother for some comfort, but all that Queen Nori gave him was an icy stare.

They were in the main hall, not exactly the throne room, of the palace, were lengths of toughened canvas and a few spiral shaped metal ornaments were played with in the wind, making soft music. Gold and white surrounded them as well as jade pillars and the wood of the great trunk of the life tree. Although the birds outside were singing and the sound of the wind chimes was soothing, the five who were seated there were not at all happy. King Lao and Queen Nori were starring at Prince Aikka with some level of sadness and anger, while Fencing Master Canaan and the nursemaid, Nasha were standing behind, Canaan looking a tad disappointed under the mask of anger on his face, while Nasha was readying herself to take the young Prince upstairs. G'Dar although, not at the least forgotten was sitting at Aikka's heels, listening to the entire conversation with rapt attention.

"None of that," King Lao said, with a swift motion of his hand, as though to cut the very words that were about to form in Aikka's throat from coming true. "You will be sentenced to your room for the remainder of the day." King Lao closed his eyes and bowed his head a little. "I am… so disappointed in you, my son."

With that he turned around, leaving Aikka fumbling for words.

"But father, I…"

King Lao turned and set a very discerning eye on the young Prince who suddenly had the words he was going to say stick in his mouth, like honey, never to be spoken out loud.

"There are no excuses for this, my son," said King Lao, "in time you will understand your responsibility to this kingdom as its heir and the leader of your people."

Aikka then bent down to pick up the small caterpillar-like creature but at that point, King Lao stopped him.

"As for the larva," he said, "Canaan will take it to the stables. Do not fret much; you have also disobeyed me and your people by bringing in a wild creature. Is there not enough kabuto here that you can ride as a squire of the kingdom without being placed in so much trouble?"

"But father! He's an –"

"That is not an excuse, young Prince. You know there are plenty of beetles for you to ride and you have yet to even impress one. But to bring in a wild one, a larva is upsetting. Not only have you deprived a mother of its young but you have also endangered the life of this creature by taking it away from its mother so early!"

"But he's just an orphan!"

There was some kind of hushed silence as Aikka, nearly in tears bent down and picked up G'Dar who squirmed in his hands like a distressed cat. The little creature made a clicking noise and nuzzled against Aikka's face for a moment.

"He – he would've died." Aikka pushed his face into the somewhat silky fur of the caterpillar-like larva.

King Lao, never having the chance of being a Nourasian Knight when he was young, softened a little at the display of affection his son was giving the creature. However, it still did not rule out Aikka's punishment. He had directly disobeyed and wandered off. Him! The only heir to the throne of Nourasia had walked off into the rainforest without any supervision! There were plenty of dangers in that place and he could've been killed – or, as King Lao had remembered from the past, from those terrible years ago when the Crogs had first landed on Nourasia – far worst.

"You are still going to your room," said King Lao, as he extended a finger in the direction of Aikka's room. "And you will understand your responsibilities to your kingdom, young Prince!"

Without another word, King Lao turned away from Aikka. Aikka's face lit up with a sense of loss and tried to go after his father and mother walking away from him, but his arm was grabbed by Nasha.

"Now, now Prince Aikka," she said, "you must obey your parents and go to your room. A good prince never does selfish things without thinking of the responsibility of his people."

Aikka tried to wrench himself out of his nursemaid's grasp with G'Dar in one arm. The larva was taken by Canaan who had surprised him a little.

"_Aikka!"_ cried G'Dar, _"I don't want to go! Don't leave me!"_

"I'm sorry," cried Aikka as he was taken away from the larva, which was being carried away by Canaan.

He couldn't help him, and the larva couldn't help Aikka in turn. They merely watched each other go to their predestined punishments. For Aikka it was his chambers, although bathed in the light of Nourasia's bright sun, it would feel cold for him now. G'Dar would at least have _some_ company, be it with other larva, but maybe he wouldn't fit in, maybe they would be mean…

It wasn't as if he would change anything himself or for G'Dar. For the moment, at least.

To be continued...


End file.
